


It Doesn't Have To Be Like That

by PinkPandorafrog



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Aromantic, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:24:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5062831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkPandorafrog/pseuds/PinkPandorafrog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy served as a liaison between different superheroes and the Avengers. One of her most hated tasks was going out to Gotham City to touch base with Bruce. Technically it wasn't Bruce himself that was the problem, it was the persona he projected in public. Of course, it didn't help that the official story about her being there was that they were dating again...</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Doesn't Have To Be Like That

There were parts of her liaison job that Darcy really, really didn't like. Driving out to Gotham City was one of them. The city itself wasn't _bad_ , and the accommodations were basically the best she was going to find outside of the Avengers Tower. No, the problem was Bruce Wayne. Well, kinda.

He and Tony were actually a lot alike. Both were disgustingly rich philanthropists who moonlighted as superheros with a ton of nifty fun gadgets. Only where Tony liked the spotlight and owned his supersuited other half, Bruce was an introvert with a secret identity who adopted a douchebag persona as part of his disguise. And since they were nearly always around other people when they were together when she went to see him, she got to bear the brunt of that persona for entirely too long. Of course, a _second_ was too long.

She turned her car onto the gated drive of Wayne Manor and pulled up beside the intercom. She rolled her window down and let the scanning thing scan her face, then had to touch her thumb to the biometrics pad beside the scanning thing. “It's Darcy,” she said to the voice thing. Everything was in order, so the gates swung open and she eased her car up the long drive to the gigantic house at the end. The garage door- one of them- opened up as she neared it, and there was an empty spot just waiting for her to park her car.

Alfred was waiting for her when she let herself into the house. “Good morning,” he greeted warmly. He looked just the same as he always did, the immaculate suit and the twinkle in his eye. She liked Alfred.

“Hey. He's not here, is he?” Darcy glanced around like she'd actually be able to see Bruce despite, you know, only being in one tiny portion of the house.

“He's downstairs,” came the smooth reply, and she knew what that meant. He was _working_.

“Okay.” She sighed, setting her backpack down on the floor. “Where are we going tonight, do you know?” This right here. It would be easy enough to say she was coming to Gotham to work out some sort of business deal between SI and Wayne Enterprises, which was practically the truth, except then she wouldn't be holed up in Wayne Manor. She'd get a hotel like every other business associate, and that wasn't safe enough. She had secrets, both Bruce's and the Avengers', so she needed to be kept safer than average, run of the mill hotel room. That was why according to every tabloid on the planet, she and Bruce had a “turbulent” on again off again relationship.

“Oh, just dinner tonight, I believe.”

“Good.” The less time they had to spend in public together, the better. She picked up her backpack again, slinging it effortlessly up onto her shoulder. “I'll be up in my room, I know he knows I'm here.”

Her room looked just the same as it always did. Alfred had assured her at one point that it really was her room, she was the only one who used it. But it was gigantic, the enormous bed was freakishly comfortable, and there was a TV up on the wall so she could Netflix to her heart's content as well plenty of plugs for all of her electronic shit.

When she'd first started doing this, Pepper had arranged for a bunch of “nice” clothes in her size to be sent here, they were all hanging in the bedroom's huge closet so that was one less thing she had to worry about bringing on her drive here. Transporting dressy clothes was kind of a pain in the ass.

Not long after she got settled on the bed with the TV on and her laptop open, there was a knock at the door. Bruce and Alfred had different knocks, and that was definitely Bruce. It was more determined, there was more weight behind it. “Come in,” she called, sparing him a glance as he pushed the carved wooden door into the room. “Hey.”

“Hi.” He sort of lounged in the door, leaning against the frame with his arms folded. “Good drive?”

“It was all right. I managed to miss most of the traffic. _Most_ of it.” Darcy let her eyes move over him for a long moment. “You look like you're in one piece.”

The corner of his mouth turned up a little at that. “My armor may not be red and gold, but it does its job.” He looked back for a moment. “You know, you'd be able to miss all the traffic if you let me fly you up here.”

“Yeah, but our biggest argument is that I'm an independent woman. Street cred. It's much better when I can zoom out of here in my own car at high speeds and then everyone can say our reunion hit a snag. You know, again.” She made a face. “Last time someone actually called me for an interview. _Why do you keep going back to him?_ ”

He pushed away from the wall and walked towards her, and she stood up on the bed to move to the edge to lean over to give him a hug. It was the only time she was ever taller than him, and it was hard not to enjoy it, at least a little. “I read that.”

“Ugh.” She rested her head on his shoulder for a second. She considered him a friend, as much as Bruce ever let anyone be a friend. In addition to coming out to see him a few times a year she was his main contact at SI and they talked a lot via Skype and email.

After a short time, though, she pulled away and sat back down. The mattress wasn't _really_ meant for walking on and it was kinda wobbly. “Waiting around for you to become a better man, I hate that shit.” That was what she'd said, that she saw all the good he did, his philanthropy and whatever, and she was sure it was just waiting for it to come out. She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Alfred said just dinner tonight?”

“Yes, I thought we could cut the evening short.” He settled on the bed, drawing one knee up so he could turn and look at her. It probably wasn't entirely for her benefit, he got just as tired of playing the playboy as she did of being around him.

“That's because you're the best, Bruce. Argument or desperate to fuck?” He raised an eyebrow and she gave him a look. “What? That's what I keep telling everyone. Your potential greater good and you're great in the sack. And honestly, as much as you're a complete dickbag in public I don't think we should wear out the argument thing yet, it'll start looking suspicious.”

Bruce nodded, one hand coming up to stroke his chin as he looked at her. “If we're getting along, you'd be stuck here the whole weekend.” It came out more of a question than a statement.

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “I mean, unless you want me out of here because you're... desperate to be alone? Or whatever, you basically could still be alone, it's not like you'd even have to see me.” At all, with how big the house was. “No, but that means we could actually take our time to go through this.” She gestured to the laptop, which wasn't even open to work shit, but the point would probably get across. “And I absolutely don't expect you to entertain me.”

“It does make sense.” The first time she'd come up here had been kind of like that. They'd gone out for a full evening, she'd spent the whole weekend there. The next two times ended in “arguments” with the aforementioned zooming off her in her car, and it had just seemed really rushed and hectic.

“I should warn you, though, I fully intend on monopolizing your hot tub.” Because if Darcy was going to be staying here for a couple of days, she might as well take advantage of it and think about it like a working vacation.

His smile grew. “Which one?”

She grinned in return.

* * *

 

The second they left the house they would be _on_ . Darcy smoothed down the front of her slinky black dress. It was, uh, revealing. She figured if Bruce couldn't keep his hands off of her, there should probably be a _reason_ for it. She was waiting in the front foyer of the mansion, pacing a little in her flats. Her purposely worn flats. Because he was almost a foot taller than her, the paparazzi had to be more deliberate and further away if they wanted to get pictures with both of their faces in it, and she took some perverse pleasure in making things even just the tiniest bit less convenient.

He appeared at the top of the stairs and his eyes widened a little as he took in what she was wearing. He looked pretty good himself in his charcoal suit, of course he probably had a closet full of tailored suits that was just about as big as the room she was currently occupying.

He offered her his arm as soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, and she walked over to him and took it, clasping her hands around his elbow. He looked down at her for a moment, blue eyes slightly amused. “I always forget how short you are.”

She made a face. “Well, stop dating supermodels. I'm normal-sized.”

His car was waiting out in front of the mansion for them, and he opened her door for her before going around to get into the driver's seat. The very first thing she did was do up her seat belt, because Bruce drove like traffic laws weren't a thing. Sure enough, the car took the corner out of the driveway at a speed that had Darcy grabbing for the handle in the door. She didn't _say_ anything, because high speed precision driving was kind of one of those things he did for a living, but she didn't have to like it.

When they reached their destination, she took a second to compose herself, taking a deep breath and making sure she hadn't actually popped out of her dress on the drive over.

“You're a bit pale,” Bruce said, a thread of amusement floating through his voice.

She glared at him. “Watch it, buddy, I will absolutely rethink the fake argument.”

He was laughing as he opened his door and got out. The valet or whatever was already opening her door, and she turned to put her feet flat on the ground, reaching up to take Bruce's hand as he came around this side of the car and letting him pull her to her feet.

When she was up beside him, his hand transferred to the small of her back, his thumb idly stroking against the bare skin over her spine. He tossed the keys carelessly to the waiting valet before gesturing grandly to the glass front door of whatever restaurant they'd stopped in front of. She only hoped they served actual food instead of food-art or whatever.

She came to a stop, turning into him, and rested her palm against the front of his suit jacket. He obligingly bent his head down so she could actually talk to him. “They're going to starve me, aren't they? Please tell me you have bacon somewhere in that gigantic house of yours.”

He laughed, his lips grazing against her ear before he straightened up. “Of course,” he answered at a normal volume for the benefit of the camera phones that were already starting to be pointed in their direction.

Bruce pulled the door open for her and ushered her inside. He didn't have a reservation, of course, but it was absolutely no problem getting them a table despite the fact that it was Friday night. They were shown to a small table, and he pulled one of the chairs around so that were both crowded together on the same side. When they sat down he rested his hand against her thigh.

Darcy pulled open the menu and took a look at it. Bruce did not. “You don't need that,” he told her airily. “They'll make whatever you want.”

Quelling a sigh, Darcy kept her attention on the glossy pages. “Where's the bacon?” she muttered as she looked it over. Well, she knew where the bacon was. At home on Bruce's fridge. Which meant things were going to have to get a lot more intimate. The sooner they got there, the sooner they could go home.

At least Bruce knew what was up. He bent his head towards her, lips brushing against the shell of her ear as he murmured, “The salmon is really good.”

“What, all two bites of it?” She turned towards him and their lips met. It certainly wasn't their first kiss, but it lingered a little longer than she remembered usually happened.

The sommelier brought wine for them to taste. Bruce didn't even bother tasting it before waving him away, of course instructing him to leave the bottle he'd brought. And when the waiter came, he ordered something that definitely hadn't been on the menu. They flirted and bantered in front of the staff, Darcy turned herself towards him and traced the curve of his ear at one point, constantly keeping her hands _on_ him.

“Now we have to stay long enough for you to eat some of that, since you're making the chef go to all that work.” Darcy quelled another sigh, instead letting the corners of her lips turn up just a little like she was telling him dirty secrets.

“I know.” The hand lifted from her thigh, his arm resting against the back of her chair. “I wish you'd put your hair up.” She was just about to ask why, but he gently pulled her hair out of the way and leaned in to close his mouth to the side of her neck. And, okay, they'd never done _this_ before. Lots of arms around each other, hand-holding, some kissing, but this seemed somehow more intimate. She let her eyes flutter closed, opening them when he straightened away. Her neck was sensitive, especially the hollow under her ear that he'd just worked his lips again, and the shiver that spread through here was _not_ pretend. “Too much?”

“Keep that up and I won't be pretending,” she answered, and she heard his low chuckle. “You going out tonight?”

“Yeah. Are you going to be okay at the house by yourself?”

She turned her face up to look at him, taking his free hand in her own. “Oh no, a whole night in your mansion, however will I find something to do with myself?” She brought his hand up to nip at his fingertip. “I meant what I said about your hot tub. You'll come home and find me sleeping in it.”

“Which one? There's the one downstairs by the pool, and then there's one up in my bathroom.” That sounded... A lot like actual flirting. There was a certain heat in his eyes as he looked at her, and maybe she was just reading too much into it, but it didn't look entirely faked.

“I don't know, if it was the one in your room it would probably look like I was waiting for you to join me.”

Bruce leaned down, she tilted her head back, and their mouths sealed together again. Only this time her lips were slightly parted and she felt his tongue flick against hers. And as she let her tongue tangle with his, she wasn't entirely sure where the line between pretend and reality was, or which side she was even on anymore. They'd definitely never kissed like this before, and she really didn't want to stop. The kiss was slow, hot, like he wanted to spend the whole night just exploring her mouth.

One hand ran through his thick, dark hair, the fingers of the other catching around the lapel of his jacket. The kiss went on and on, heat and intensity, and when he pulled back he paused to draw her lower lip into his mouth. She opened her eyes and looked a question at him as he sat back. “The food will be here in a couple of minutes.” He caught her hand, palm against the back of her hand, fingers laced in hers, and brought it to his mouth for a kiss. His lips moved across her palm, slow and hot.

“Okay.” Darcy snuggled up closer and rose up off of her butt, hand braced against his chest, until she could nip delicately at his earlobe. She could totally have just looked like she was whispering in his ear. Right?

His hand was at the small of her back, fingers pressing in against her bare skin. She could only stay there for a few seconds before sitting back in her chair again because she'd only been whispering in his ear. Or whatever.

But the food was there. Darcy settled down in her seat, keeping one hand on the inside of his thigh as she picked up her fork with her left hand. The plate looked beautiful, the food was artfully arranged. But yeah, she'd be cooking some bacon when they got back to Wayne Manor.

He took a couple of bites and then he was pulling her hair away from her neck again, his mouth hot against her skin. She turned to meet him for another lingering kiss, and when she broke away she saw that he was already pulling his wallet out of his pocket. He tossed a couple of bills carelessly at the table, and with her hand tightly in his led the way out of the restaurant.

They had to wait for the car to be brought around, which was time spent in his arms, his mouth moving over hers. Bruce seemed to be a little reluctant when the sound of the engine pulling up beside them broke them apart.

The drive back to Wayne Manor was spent mostly in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, not exactly, but there was definitely a tension between them, almost a physical weight to the air. Darcy pressed her lips together and stared out at the city zooming past through her window.

His hand was still lingering in the small of her back when they went back inside the house, stopping in the foyer. He wouldn't be going upstairs, he'd be going down to the super secret lair under the house to fight crime and be a badass.

She looked up at him, staring into his blue eyes. He _wasn't_ moving away, and neither was she. And she didn't particularly want to. “Hey, Bruce?” Anything to prolong the moment.

“Yes?” One eyebrow quirked a little.

Shit. Now she actually had to come up with something. She swallowed. “You have towels, right? I don't think I brought one.” Which was probably better than _please fuck me against the stairs_ , because that's what had been on the tip of her tongue. Fake dating. _Fake_.

The corners of his lips turned up into a smile that looked slightly rueful, although that may have been her imagination. “Yeah. There should be some in your bathroom, and I know there's some where the hot tubs are.” He paused for just a second and his eyebrow lifted again just the slightest amount. “Both of them.”

“I already put my bathing suit down by the pool. That seems an awful long way to take it up to the hot tub in your bathroom.” She'd meant it to come out lighthearted, but instead it had come out all husky and suggestive.

“Wouldn't be the first time someone had gone into it without one. I usually don't bother.” Prompting images of Bruce all naked and dripping. That was a good look and she really wanted to actually see it in person.

Darcy's tongue came out to lick her lips, her palms coming up to brace against his chest. The suit jacket was smooth under her touch and she really just wanted to pull it open. “I don't want to keep you from your caped crusading.”

His pupils were dilated, the irises only thin rings of blue. It was a little dark in the foyer, but maybe it wasn't just because it was dark. The theory seemed to be supported when his eyes flicked down to her lips. “I'm just patrolling tonight, nothing's been called in. The night's barely started.”

“Okay.” She reached down to take his hand, keeping her gaze locked on his as she slowly, so slowly brought it up towards her face. “Does that mean you can stay for dessert?” She let her tongue flick against the pad of his index finger before drawing his finger into her mouth, sucking on it like she would a completely different body part given half the chance.

His fingertips dug in against her back and as soon as she released his digit with a wet pop, Bruce bent down to capture her lips with his own. She was moving, she realized, he was walking and guiding her slowly backwards with the hand on her back. She let her eyes drop closed.

When her shoulder bumped against a wall she let out a noise of protest, the surface was cold against her skin. It didn't last though, his hands slid up behind her to rest between her shoulder blades and the wall to shield her from the chill.

His lips slipped from hers, moving along the line of her jaw back to her ear. “This would be easier,” he murmured, his mouth moving against her skin as he spoke, “if you weren't so short.”

“That's funny.” She licked her lips, tilting her head to give him better access. “No one else has ever complained. You're not _that_ tall. Must be the supermodels.”

One hand slipped out from behind her back to rest against her waist, the other one shifting over so that she wasn't angled awkwardly against the wall. His mouth found that hollow just under her ear and she let out a soft sigh as she felt the gentle scrape of teeth against that sensitive spot.

She worked the button on his charcoal suit jacket and she pushed it off his shoulders. His hands fell away to pull off the sleeves and let it fall to the floor right where they were. The wall wasn't so cold against her skin anymore, and when he reached for her again his hands settled against her hips.

Darcy reached for the tie next, pulling the knot loose and sending it down to follow after the jacket.

“Are we in a hurry?” he asked, his nose nudging against the sensitive spot his mouth had just covered.

“Kinda. I at least want to see you shirtless before you get a Bat-Signal.” She was undoing his buttons, starting at his neck and working her way down. She felt the puffs of air against her neck at his silent laugh. “You laugh, but we got the assemble order once just when Bruce- Jane's Bruce- started going down on her.”

“The benefits of working alone.” His words feathered out across her skin as he made a hot trail downwards. He seemed perfectly happy to let her undo the small buttons on his shirt, though. “I don't have to assemble.”

“Yeah, but would you _really_ -” she broke off in a sharp gasp when he nipped at the juncture where her neck met her shoulder. “Would you really tell Gotham to fuck off because you were getting laid?”

“Depends on where we were.” She laughed at that, but another nip accompanied his hand resting against her breast, cupping it from underneath. She broke off with a quiet sigh as he kneaded the delicate flesh, her fingers stilling for a moment before quickly finishing off the task at hand.

Bruce was, of course, wearing an undershirt. She opened her eyes to sitting there almost like it was mocking her. “Please tell me there are no more layers after this one.”

He pulled back got the white dress shirt off before reaching one hand behind his neck and easily pulling the white undershirt off. They joined the growing pile of clothing on the floor and one eyebrow quirked at her. “Better?”

“Oh, much. I had images of you getting up out of your hot tub, but this will do for now.” Her eyes traced the lines of his torso. Scars dotted his upper body here and there, silvery-smooth lines of tissue. Darcy reached out a hand to run her palm down the center of her chest to where his belt was buckled at his waist.

“What about you?” His gaze flicked over her before returning to her face.

She reached for the zipper that ran down the left side of her dress, sliding it slowly down. His hand came out and he brushed one strap from her shoulder, then the other one. Her arms fell to her sides and the dress just kinda dropped to the floor, leaving her in a lacy black bra and panties set. “Now you're _way_ more dressed than I am.” She leaned forward to brush her lips against the center of his chest as she reached for the belt buckle.

She didn't get too much farther than that, though, because his hands were on her hips again, gently pressing her back against the wall, and this time his mouth was moving down over her clavicle and onto her chest. He mouth along the strap of her bra, then nibbled along the line of one cup until he got to her cleavage. “I had similar images of you.”

“We'll definitely have to do that then. Maybe tomorrow.” Her head fell back against the wall, eyes closing again as Bruce pulled her bra cup down, exposing her breast. His fingers teased the sensitive peak into a tight bud, and then she felt the velvet heat of his mouth. He licked and sucked until she was arching her back into him, her fingers tangled in his thick hair. “Mmm, Bruce.”

“Definitely.” Her fingers had stilled against his belt, and he pushed them gently out of the way, undoing his own pants. She heard the clink of the belt buckle as it hit the floor. There was the distinctive foil sound of a condom being unwrapped.

Darcy toed off her flats and worked her panties down, and was about to reach up behind her for her bra, but his hands on her waist were lifting her up until her shoulders touched a colder part of the wall. She let out a little yelp at the temperature change, but his body was right there, and she wrapped her legs around his lean hips.

He was holding her up easily with one hand under her ass. The other trailed down the front of her body as she wrapped her arms around his neck, finding the sensitive nub at the apex of with his thumb. He pressed in against it, rolling quickly in a tight circle until she was rocking her hips against him, using the wall for leverage.

Bruce shifted her down, and she felt the head of his cock nudge against her center before he shifted a little, and then he thrust up into her pussy in one quick motion that had her crying out. She closed her teeth around her lower lip in an effort to stifle the noise. She gripped at his shoulders, her fingers digging in against the line of muscle as he pistoned into her with quick, deep thrusts.

His thumb circled her clit in time to each sharp movement, and her fingers raked across his back as her pleasure spiraled in tighter and tighter.

His relentless rhythm pushed her over the edge, and she let out another long cry as warmth spread out through her limbs. She kept rolling her hips into him even as her cunt fluttered around his hard shaft. He groaned as she tightened around him but he didn't even slow down. His thumb slipped away and he braced himself against his forearm on the wall beside her head.

The large room seemed to echo every sigh and moan. Darcy turned her face in against his neck as he bowed his head towards her, breathing in the small of his cologne and and the clean sweat that was starting to trickle down his body.

He drove up into her again and again, and she could feel the heat starting to pool again, an intense wave of pleasure that narrowed in around her. She let one hand slip between them, sliding down her body until her middle finger rolled back and forth over her clit. Fast, faster, her hips rolling and bucking as much as she was able to as the tingling warmth rose up around her.

She could feel him getting close too, stuttering a little as he surged up into her. He stilled just when her cunt started to contract around him, and another fraction of a second had her moaning out her release as well.

He held her securely like that as they caught their breath, his head dropped forward until his forehead rested against the wall.

“Hey,” she said after a bit, patting his shoulder. “I've always wondered, is the Batman voice a modulator, or is that all you?”

“It's all me,” he answered, his voice having dropped into that unmistakable growl, and Darcy just started laughing.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Michael Caine is absolutely playing Alfred in this. Absolutely.


End file.
